BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION
What would break the back of Jim Crow America? What role did education play in the movement to desgregate America?

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Using the the links provided, analyze the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. Cut and paste the information below into a new entry on your Unit 8 Online Notebook.



SETTING THE STAGE - Participate in The Road to Justice activity

BASIC FACTS OF THE CASES (more than one) (check video, Link 1, Link 2, Link 3)
Make a bulleted list of the basic facts of the cases brought to the Supreme Court
-wanted to go to school

  • Judges decided the damage done by segregated education.
  • Started the idea of equal rights.
  • Supreme Court ruled that Brown had won and desegregation was put forth in the public school system
  • Segregation was declared unconstitutional
  • Slavery was never legal in Kansas
  • Local opinion would decide if segregation was allowed in elementary schools
  • A three-judge federal court ruled against the plaintiffs, case went to Supreme Court
  • Buses and railroads were integrated, but most restaurants, hotels, and other public places were usually segregated—by practice, not by law
  • NAACP attorneys argued that segregated schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment and harmed black students.


MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF (for integration) (check Link 1)
List the major arguments of the plaintiffs

  • 14th Amendment was not specific about whether the states would be allowed to make segregated education

  • The constitution didn't say we need white and black schools.
  • They said that blacks could not keep up with white students.
  • Supreme Court had misinterpreted the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
  • Equal protection of the laws did not allow for racial segregation
  • 14th Amendment allowed the Gov. to prohibit any discriminatory state action based on race, including segregation in public schools

MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE DEFENDANTS (for segregation) (check Link 1)
List the major arguments of the Defendants
  • Segregation was not harmful to black people
  • Whites were making a good faith effort to equalize the two educational systems, but because black children were still living with the effects of slavery
  • The Constitution didn’t require white and African American children to go to the same schools
  • Social separation of blacks and whites was a regional custom; the states should be left free to regulate their own social affairs
    THE CHANGE IN THE COURT (leading to a decision) (check **Link 1**)
    What important change happened, and what was its impact?
    They decided to hear it but then unanimously voted for seperate but not equal.
    THE COURT DECISION (in your own words) (check **Link 1** and Link 2)
    What did the Court decide?
    They decided that brown had won. all three judges voted for them
    ENFORCING THE DECISION (discuss "with all deliberate speed) (Check Link 1)
    What was the Court's statement about the enforcement of the decision? What happened to the enforcement?

    THE IMPACT and LEGACY
    (Check **Link 1**)
    What is the overall importance and legacy of Brown v. Board?
    There will always continue to be two sides to this arguement and it will continue to tear this nation in two but we can learn from this and show that all men are equal.